Congressional Record: October 15, 2003 (Senate)
Page S12579-S12599
EMERGENCY SUPPLEMENTAL APPROPRIATIONS FOR IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN SECURITY
AND RECONSTRUCTION, 2004--Continued
[...]
Amendment No. 1846
Mr. BYRD. Madam President, I send an amendment to the desk on behalf
of myself, Mr. Levin, Mr. Dorgan, Mrs. Clinton, and Ms. Landrieu.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, the pending amendments are
set aside. The clerk will report.
The legislative clerk read as follows:
The Senator from West Virginia [Mr. Byrd], for himself, Mr.
Levin, Mr. Reed, Mr. Corzine, Mr. Leahy, Mr. Dorgan, Mrs.
Clinton, and Ms. Landrieu, proposes an amendment numbered
1846.
Mr. BYRD. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that reading of
the amendment be dispensed with.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
The amendment is as follows:
(Purpose: To modify the report requirements with respect to the
Coalition Provisional Authority)
At the appropriate place insert the following:
Sec. 2309. (a) Reports of Coalition Provisional
Authority.--Not later than January 1, 2004, and every 90 days
thereafter, the Administrator of the Coalition Provisional
Authority (CPA) shall submit to the Committees on
Appropriations and Armed Services of the Senate and the House
of Representatives a report on all obligations, expenditures,
and revenues associated with reconstruction, rehabilitation,
and security activities in Iraq during the preceding 90 days,
including the following:
(1) Obligations and expenditures of appropriated funds.
(2) A project-by-project and program-by-program accounting
of the costs incurred to date for the reconstruction of Iraq,
together with the estimate of the Authority of the costs to
complete each project and each program.
(3) Revenues attributable to or consisting of funds
provided by foreign nations or international organizations,
and any obligations or expenditures of such revenues.
(4) Revenues attributable to or consisting of foreign
assets seized or frozen, and any obligations or expenditures
of such revenues.
(5) Operating expenses of the Authority and of any other
agencies or entities receiving funds appropriated by title.
(b) Comptroller General Audit, Investigations, and
Reports.--(1) The Comptroller General of the United States
shall
[[Page S12586]]
conduct an on-going audit of the Coalition Provisional
Authority, and may conduct such additional investigations as
the Comptroller General considers appropriate, to evaluate
the reconstruction, rehabilitation, and security activities
in Iraq.
(2) In conducting the audit and any investigations under
paragraph (1), the Comptroller General shall have access to
any information and records created or maintained by the
Authority, or by any other entity receiving appropriated
funds for reconstruction, rehabilitation, or security
activities in Iraq, that the Comptroller General considers
appropriate to conduct the audit or investigations.
(3) Not later than 120 days after the date of the enactment
of this Act, the Comptroller General shall submit to the
Committees on Appropriations and Armed Services of the Senate
and the House of Representatives a report on the audit and
any investigations conducted under paragraph (1). The report
shall include information as follows:
(A) A detailed description of the organization and
authorities of the Authority.
(B) A detailed description of the relationship between the
Authority and other Federal agencies, including the
Department of Defense, the Department of State, the Executive
Office of the President, and the National Security Council.
(C) A detailed description of the extent of the use of
private contractors to assist in Authority operations and to
carry out reconstruction, rehabilitation, or security
activities in Iraq, including an assessment of--
(i) the nature of the contract vehicles used to perform the
work, including the extent of competition used in entering
into the contracts and the amount of profit provided in the
contracts;
(ii) the nature of the task orders or other work orders
used to perform the work, including the extent to which
performance-based, cost-based, and fixed-price task orders
were used;
(iii) the reasonableness of the rates charged by such
contractors, including an assessment of the impact on rates
of a greater reliance on Iraqi labor or other possible
sources of supply;
(iv) the extent to which such contractors performed work
themselves and, to the extent that subcontractors were
utilized, how such subcontractors were selected; and
(v) the extent to which the Authority or such contractors
relied upon consultants to assist in projects or programs,
the amount paid for such consulting services, and whether
such consulting services were obtained pursuant to full and
open competition.
(D) A detailed description of the measures adopted by the
Authority and other Federal agencies to monitor and prevent
waste, fraud, and abuse in the expenditure of appropriated
funds in the carrying out of reconstruction, rehabilitation,
and security activities in Iraq.
(E) A certification by the Comptroller General as to
whether or not the Comptroller General had adequate access to
relevant information to make informed judgments on the
matters covered by the report.
(4) The Comptroller General shall from time to time submit
to the Committees on Appropriations and Armed Services of the
Senate and the House of Representatives a supplemental report
on the audit, and any further investigations, conducted under
paragraph (1). Each such report shall include such updates of
the previous reports under this subsection as the Comptroller
General considers appropriate to keep Congress fully and
currently apprised on the reconstruction, rehabilitation, and
security activities in Iraq.
Mr. BYRD. Madam President, 1 year ago this week, the President signed
the congressional resolution authorizing him to go to war against Iraq.
That signing was a historic moment for the United States. For the first
time in our history, the President asked Congress for authority to
launch an invasion against a sovereign nation that did not constitute a
clear and imminent threat to the safety of the American people. And for
the first time in our history, the President demanded that Congress
give him unconditional power to initiate war whenever he wanted,
limited by nothing but his own judgment. The President wanted war on
his own terms, and Congress granted him everything he asked for.
For the next 5 months, the President and his top advisors turned a
deaf ear to growing concerns about the administration's judgment. When
intelligence analysts warned that the White House was acting on
questionable conclusions, those analysts were ignored. When Members of
Congress dared to ask questions about the President's war plans, they
were branded as unpatriotic. When our oldest allies disagreed with the
argument that immediate war was the only answer, they were dismissed
and called irrelevant. Top administration officials who publicly
contradicted the President's rosy predictions were fired, and the
American public was kept in the dark about what Iraq would look like
after the war.
On several occasions, I stood on the floor and asked: After Iraq,
what? What shall we expect the morning after the war?
Confident that the reconstruction of Iraq was a job that could be
handled without involving Congress too much or the United Nations,
President Bush delegated the task to retired GEN Jay Garner, who
quietly went to work with support from the Pentagon. The American
people were not told much about General Garner or what he was doing in
Iraq. Most Members of Congress didn't know anything more about him than
what they read in the papers. So when General Garner was given his
walking papers and replaced with Ambassador Paul Bremer without
explanation or fanfare, Congress had no real information to judge what
the shake-up would mean for the United States occupation of Iraq.
In the days after President Bush made his flamboyant landing on the
aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln to announce to the world that the
United States had accomplished its mission in Iraq--that was the banner
headline over and above his head--most of the country was too
distracted celebrating the military triumph to think much about the
President's appointment of Paul Bremer to serve as a Presidential envoy
in Iraq. With the President declaring victory and the administration
continuing to assure the public that we would be welcomed as
liberators--a la Vice President Cheney--and that Iraq's oil revenues
would pay for reconstruction, the administration hoped that no one
would bother to notice the management changes it was making in Iraq.
The administration moved quickly to set up a reconstruction team on
the ground in Iraqi that would answer only to the President and the
Secretary of Defense. In May, the President issued a classified
National Security Directive creating the Coalition Provisional
Authority, CPA. That document remains classified, and the
administration has provided very little public information about the
powers and authorities of the CPA. All we really know from the White
House is that Ambassador Bremer, as administrator of the CPA, reports
to the President through the Secretary of Defense. But after the recent
announcement that National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice will be
coordinating reconstruction policy from within the White House, who
knows what the chain of command looks like today or will look like
tomorrow? Getting a clear picture of how the CPA operates has proved to
be difficult, but it is clear Ambassador Bremer wields an extraordinary
amount of power and independence in Iraq. And, if you don't believe it,
listen to this. On May 16, the CPA issued its first regulation in Iraq
in which it spelled out its authority in no uncertain terms. Section 1
of that regulation stated:
The CPA is vested with all executive, legislative, and
judicial authority necessary to achieve its objectives, to be
exercised under relevant U.N. Security Council resolutions,
including resolution 1483, and the laws and usages of war.
This authority shall be exercised by the CPA Administrator.
That is broad, broad, virtually without limitation, if the reading
means what it says. Let's read that again.
The CPA is vested with all executive, legislative, and
judicial authority.
Take a look at the Constitution of the United States. Let's see what
it says, in the very first article, the very first section of that
article, and then compare that authority with the authority I have just
read. Here is what article I, section 1, of the Constitution says about
the legislative authority.
All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a
Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a
Senate and House of Representatives.
That is one sentence, and it vests all legislative powers in a
Congress of the United States.
Well, section 1 of the regulation, which I have just read, says it is
the CPA that is vested with all executive, legislative, and judicial
authority necessary to achieve its objectives. My, what authority that
is. It does not stop with just legislative authority. It talks about
executive, legislative, and judicial authority.
Read that again.
The CPA is vested with all executive, legislative, and
judicial authority necessary to achieve its objectives, to be
exercised under
[[Page S12587]]
relevant U.N. Security Council resolutions, including
resolution 1483, and the laws and usages of war. This
authority shall be exercised by the CPA Administrator.
There is a man mountain for you, with all that authority. That is a
powerful statement, especially for an agency that has never been
authorized by Congress and an administrator who was not confirmed by
the Senate for his position. How about that?
The CPA under Paul Bremer has the power to run the Iraqi Government
ministries, the power to appoint Iraqi officials, the power to award
lucrative private contracts for reconstruction. The CPA also oversees
local police and even sets public curfews in Baghdad.
Now the CPA is looking to further consolidate its powers with an
unprecedented request to spend over $20 billion of your money. I say to
you out there who are looking at this Chamber through those electronic
lenses there: It is your money, your money. But here we are going to
consolidate the powers of the CPA with an unprecedented request to
spend over $20 billion of the American taxpayers' money, your money,
with little oversight by the Congress.
Until now, the CPA has financed its various activities from a number
of different sources, including billions of dollars in seized Iraqi
assets. The CPA was not accountable to Congress for much of this
spending, and it made very little effort to keep Congress and the
public informed about the administration's reconstruction plans.
So, the White House let Paul Bremer maintain a low profile for months
in Iraq before the President finally spoke to the American people about
what was happening on the ground in Iraq.
But now the President has admitted that rebuilding Iraq will be a
much tougher job than he had promised, and it will come with a bigger
pricetag. I must say, however, the pricetag had never been mentioned.
We attempted to find out from the administration what the pricetag
would be, but the administration chose to stay mum about that. But now
we find this business of rebuilding Iraq is going to come with a big,
big pricetag. That means Paul Bremer needs more money, more of your
money. It is your money that Paul Bremer needs. So the administration
was forced to loosen its grip of secrecy, just long enough to send
Ambassador Bremer to testify before Congress about the need for
additional funding. And in one instance, when I asked Mr. Bremer when
he was before the Appropriations Committee, ``Will you find it possible
to appear before this committee again if the chairman so directs,''
what was Mr. Bremer's answer?
I'm too busy. I am too busy. I'm too busy.
I regret we don't have those hearings printed, but the transcripts
are around and those were his words:
I'm too busy.
Don't be fooled. The public relations campaign with Congress will
last only as long as it takes to get this massive bill pushed through
both Houses in one piece. In typical fashion, the administration has
been willing to say whatever Congress wanted to hear in order to get
its way. We heard a lot of talk about plans and accountability, but the
information given to Congress was long on rhetoric, short on substance.
After all of the detailed spending requests and so-called plans from
the CPA, what we are left with today is a bill before the Senate that
gives Paul Bremer a blank check. Did you hear it? Did you hear it? A
blank check, that is what it is. Give to Mr. Bremer a blank check, a
blank check to spend $20 billion as a start. However, once this bill
leaves Congress, the administration can throw its plans out the window
and restore tight controls over information to prevent any meaningful
oversight or scrutiny of its activities.
Is that the way you want your money managed? Congress cannot simply
trust the CPA to voluntarily cooperate with oversight of reconstruction
spending. This administration has a long track record. It would not
even take an elephant to remember how long that track record is. It has
a long track record of stonewalling Congress. And, so far, Iraq has
been no exception. The CPA took over the reins of Iraq's government 5
months ago, yet Congress still has very little useful information to
evaluate its progress in Iraq thus far, let alone the merits of future
spending needs. If Congress has any hope of holding the administration
accountable for the reconstruction plans it is proposing today,
Congress needs a mechanism to ensure accountability from the CPA.
Ambassador Bremer testified before Congress that the activities of
the CPA will be fully transparent and accountable, but some of his own
statements suggested that he was reluctant to cooperate with committee
oversight. In particular, I was troubled by comments he made about
congressional access to the CPA's financial records. When he testified
before the Appropriations Committee, Ambassador Bremer told the
committee that the CPA had detailed records of all of its receipts and
outlays that could be audited by Congress. However, when he appeared
before the Armed Services Committee only 3 days later, he said the
Office of Management and Budget was responsible for maintaining those
records, and Congress would have to go to the White House for access to
the CPA's records.
Throughout my long years in Congress, I have seen the White House
occupied by Presidents of both parties, and I know from experience that
one needs to be skeptical when referred to the White House for
oversight information. There is no reason why any arm of the executive
branch charged with making such significant spending decisions should
not be working directly with Congress. When we are talking about
handing over another $20 billion to the CPA, there is a real need for
Congress to confirm that the CPA has its finances in order and that the
CPA is managing the taxpayers' money--your money--responsibly.
The amendment that I and other Senators are offering will require the
Coalition Provisional Authority to report to Congress--how about that?
That is not asking too much--on its receipts and expenditures as the
reconstruction efforts move forward in Iraq.
Let me say that again.
This amendment will require the Coalition Provisional Authority, the
CPA, to report to Congress--yes; the people's branch of government--to
report to Congress on the CPA's receipts and expenditures as the
reconstruction efforts move forward in Iraq. These reports will be
submitted on a quarterly basis beginning on January 1, 2004. Building
on the reporting requirements already in the bill, this amendment calls
for an accounting of both appropriated funds and other sources, such as
oil revenues and foreign contributions. This is information that the
CPA is already tracking. So it shouldn't be too much of a burden to
share that information with Congress, especially given the CPA's
extraordinary flexibility in spending taxpayer dollars. Ambassador
Bremer assured the committee during the committee hearing that he would
comply with any reporting requirements Congress chose to include in
this legislation.
This amendment also directs the Comptroller General of the United
States to audit the spending records of the CPA. What is wrong with
that? How about that? The amendment also directs the Comptroller
General of the United States to audit the spending records of the CPA--
we should all be for that--so that the General Accounting Office can
provide Congress with a clear understanding of how reconstruction
activities are being managed in Iraq. In its report to Congress, the
General Accounting Office must outline the authorities and organization
of the CPA, the CPA's relationship to the White House and other
executive agencies, and the CPA's use of private contractors to perform
critical reconstruction services in Iraq.
I think most people would agree with the purpose here. Let me say it
again.
In its report to Congress, the GAO must outline the authorities and
organizations of the CPA, the CPA's relationship to the White House and
other executive agencies--and get this--and the CPA's use of private
contractors to perform critical reconstruction services in Iraq.
The most important power vested in Congress by the Constitution is
the power over the purse. Englishmen spent centuries and shed blood to
wrest that power from tyrannical monarchs and vest it in the people's
branch, the House of Commons. And our forbearers in our own country
brought with them that legacy, brought with them to these shores that
principle, that power over the purse vested in the people's
[[Page S12588]]
branch. So they wrote it in this Constitution which I hold in my hand.
Our Framers wrote it in there. Article I, section 9 of this
Constitution vests the power of the purse in this branch. That is where
it has been. That is where it is.
This power carries with it the duty to ensure that the people's
money--your money--is being spent wisely. Congress must be able to
follow that money wherever it goes, but right now our money may soon
disappear into a whirling storm of White House rhetoric and wartime
profiteering.
Without this amendment, following the money will only get harder as
the President continues to reorganize the chain of command in Iraq and
avoid straight answers to tough questions about the success of our
reconstruction efforts.
If the constitutional power of the purse means anything at all, it
must at least require that the people's elected representatives here in
Congress have a right to know how the Government is spending the
Nation's treasury. I urge the Senate to protect its own powers and live
up to its oversight responsibilities, and I urge Senators to support
this amendment.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Cornyn). The Senator from Alaska.
Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, there are a series of reporting
requirements in this bill already. I have conferred with the
leadership. We don't have any objection to this amendment by the
Senator from West Virginia. I am certain that in conference the House
is going to insist on consolidating some of these reports. We will be
glad to review that matter with the Senator when that occurs. But we
are happy to accept the amendment.
Mr. BYRD. I thank the distinguished Senator. May we have a vote on
it?
Mr. STEVENS. Does the Senator want a rollcall vote?
Mr. BYRD. Yes. I would like a rollcall. It shows that it is a serious
amendment.
Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the order for the
quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, if the Senator wants a vote on this
amendment, he is entitled to a vote. I shall not object to that. But I
want the Senate to know we have a Boxer amendment to require a report
on replacing troops with Iraqi forces or other non-U.S. forces to
secure areas in Iraq. We have an amendment by Mr. Feingold to provide
transparency and accountability with respect to the Coalition
Provisional Authority. He wishes to have an office of inspector general
in the Coalition Provisional Authority. As I understand it, he will
offer that amendment. We have an amendment offered by Senator McCain
and Senator Biden. They wish to have a GAO review on the effectiveness
of the Coalition Provisional Authority relief and reconstruction
activities, and a report quarterly to the congressional committees on a
similar matter to that suggested by Senator Byrd's amendment.
So if the Senator wishes a vote on his amendment, I am prepared to
agree to that; that will be the case. It would be my intention to
accept all of these amendments and take them to conference and see what
we can do to come out with a concept of a process of having adequate
information and transparency in the Coalition without burdening the
Coalition with a series of different types of reports and different
types of officers who will be looking over their shoulders and
demanding access to their offices and interviews of their personnel
when we are trying to get the business done over there.
I do not think a provisional authority, within an area with the kind
of suicide bombers we are seeing there on a daily basis, is something
we have to burden with a series of duplicating types of reports and
inspectors general and the comptroller general and his people there at
the same time.
So again I state to my friend I will not oppose the amendment. I will
vote for it. I assume it will get 100 votes. But in conference I intend
to see it to these reports are consolidated, and we have a concise--
concise--concept of the type of reports Congress needs to oversee the
activities of the Provisional Authority.
Does the Senator wish to renew his request for the yeas and nays?
Mr. BYRD. Yes. May I say, prior to doing that, this is not just one
more report. It is like the making of our laws, Mr. President. We have
the books full of laws, but we always see the need for enacting more
and more laws.
There are Ten Commandments. If we listen to the argument of the
distinguished Senator from Alaska--and he is a very distinguished
Senator--then one Commandment should have been enough; the others would
have been repetitive. That is not the case.
This is an important reporting requirement. I hope the Senate will
approve it. We are talking about $20 billion here. So I ask for the
yeas and nays.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
There appears to be a sufficient second.
The yeas and nays were ordered.
Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I state again, I have serious question of
whether the Comptroller General of the United States is a replacement
for the Inspector General. That, in effect, is what the Senator's
amendment does. It creates the comptroller general as a constant
inspector general of everything that is going on under the Coalition
Provisional Authority.
I am going to reserve my opportunity to consolidate all of these
reports in conference. But I do agree we have the yeas and nays.
Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, the Comptroller General, General Accounting
Office is an arm of the Congress. Let the Congress carry out its proper
role of oversight under the Constitution. That is all I am asking for
here.
I thank the Senator.
Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I do not want to belabor the point. It is
an arm of the Congress, but this is an executive function concerning an
audit. We have created offices of the inspector general. Two Senators
have suggested inspectors general. I do not think this is the place for
a continuing presence of an arm of the Congress. But I will vote for
the Senator's amendment to take it to conference. As the Chair said,
there is a sufficient second.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. There is a sufficient second.
Is there further debate on the amendment? If not, the question is on
agreeing to the amendment. The clerk will call the roll.
The assistant legislative clerk called the roll.
Mr. REID. I announce that the Senator from North Carolina (Mr.
Edwards), the Senator from Massachusetts (Mr. Kerry), and the Senator
from Connecticut (Mr. Lieberman) are necessarily absent.
I further announce that, if present and voting, the Senator from
Massachusetts (Mr. Kerry) would vote ``aye.''
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Are there any other Senators in the Chamber
desiring to vote?
The result was announced--yeas 97, nays 0, as follows:
[Rollcall Vote No. 383 Leg.]
YEAS--97
Akaka
Alexander
Allard
Allen
Baucus
Bayh
Bennett
Biden
Bingaman
Bond
Boxer
Breaux
Brownback
Bunning
Burns
Byrd
Campbell
Cantwell
Carper
Chafee
Chambliss
Clinton
Cochran
Coleman
Collins
Conrad
Cornyn
Corzine
Craig
Crapo
Daschle
Dayton
DeWine
Dodd
Dole
Domenici
Dorgan
Durbin
Ensign
Enzi
Feingold
Feinstein
Fitzgerald
Frist
Graham (FL)
Graham (SC)
Grassley
Gregg
Hagel
Harkin
Hatch
Hollings
Hutchison
Inhofe
Inouye
Jeffords
Johnson
Kennedy
Kohl
Kyl
Landrieu
Lautenberg
Leahy
Levin
Lincoln
Lott
Lugar
McCain
McConnell
Mikulski
Miller
Murkowski
Murray
Nelson (FL)
Nelson (NE)
Nickles
Pryor
Reed
Reid
Roberts
Rockefeller
Santorum
Sarbanes
Schumer
Sessions
Shelby
Smith
Snowe
Specter
Stabenow
Stevens
Sununu
Talent
Thomas
Voinovich
Warner
Wyden
NOT VOTING--3
Edwards
Kerry
Lieberman
The amendment (No. 1846) was agreed to.
Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, in view of the vote on the Byrd
amendment, I announce that we have a Durbin amendment, a Corzine
amendment, a Boxer amendment, and a Feingold amendment that pertain to
reporting. If those Senators are willing to offer
[[Page S12589]]
them now, I am prepared to accept them, and we will put them all
together when we get to conference. They have not been filed.
I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Chambliss). The clerk will call the roll.
The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. STEVENS. I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum
call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the two
lists of amendments I now send to the desk be the only remaining first-
degree amendments in order to the bill other than those pending at the
present time.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. STEVENS. And provided that second-degree amendments be in order
and they be relevant to the amendment to which they are offered.
Mr. REID. Reserving the right to object, I thought we had on this
list--and I may have a different list--Senator Leahy has an amendment.
Mr. STEVENS. There are two Leahy amendments here.
Mr. REID. We have no objection.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. STEVENS. In just a moment we will ask for a rollcall vote on
Senator Graham's amendment, but I would like to yield to my friend,
Senator Feingold, to introduce an amendment, then to approve a series
of reporting amendments.
Mr. REID. Mr. President, through the Chair, to my friend from
Wisconsin, it is my understanding the Senator has two amendments.
Mr. FEINGOLD. That is right.
Mr. REID. One is a reporting amendment and one is on another subject.
I ask, since he has been waiting for such a long time, that he send his
reporting amendment to the desk. Then it is my understanding there are
a number of matters you wish to dispose of dealing with reporting
amendments. Then he would like to offer his amendment. If there is a
vote, we would vote on that and the Graham amendment at the same time.
Mr. STEVENS. I am not sure about voting on his amendment until we
know what it is. Is it on the list?
Mr. REID. Yes. At least he could offer it and we could vote later. He
has been waiting a long time.
Mr. STEVENS. I have a series of issues I wish to handle before we get
to any votes.
Mr. REID. That is fine.
Mr. STEVENS. Let me yield for the Senator to introduce his amendment.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Wisconsin is recognized.
Amendment No. 1847
Mr. FEINGOLD. Mr. President, I offer an amendment to the bill
concerning the inspector general for authority for Iraq. My
understanding is it is going to be accepted.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, the pending amendments are
set aside.
The clerk will report.
The legislative clerk read as follows:
The Senator from Wisconsin [Mr. Feingold] proposes an
amendment numbered 1847.
Mr. FEINGOLD. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the reading
of the amendment be dispensed with.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
The amendment is as follows:
(Purpose: To provide transparency and accountability with respect to
the Coalition Provisional Authority)
On page 22, between lines 12 and 13, insert the following:
Sec. 316. (a) Of the amounts appropriated by chapter 1 of
this title under the heading ``Operation and Maintenance,
Army'' and available for the operating expenses of the
Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA), $10,000,000 shall be
available for the establishment of the Office of the
Inspector General of the Coalition Provisional Authority and
for related operating expenses of the Office.
(b) The Office of the Inspector General of the Coalition
Provisional Authority shall be established not later than 30
days after the date of the enactment of this Act.
(c)(1) The head of the Office of the Inspector General of
the Coalition Provisional Authority shall be the Inspector
General of the Coalition Provisional Authority.
(2) The Inspector General shall be appointed by the
President in accordance with, and shall otherwise be subject
to the provisions of, section 3 of the Inspector General Act
of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.), except that the person nominated for
appointment as Inspector General may assume the duties of the
office on an acting basis pending the advice and consent of
the Senate.
(3) The Inspector General shall have the duties,
responsibilities, and authorities of inspectors general under
the Inspector General Act of 1978. In carrying out such
duties, responsibilities, and authorities, the Inspector
General shall coordinate with, and receive the cooperation
of, the Inspector General of the Department of Defense.
(d)(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), not later than
75 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, and
every 10 days thereafter, the Inspector General of the
Coalition Provisional Authority shall submit to the
Committees on Appropriations and Foreign Relations of the
Senate and the Committees on Appropriations and International
Relations of the House of Representatives a report that sets
forth--
(A) an assessment of the financial controls of the
Coalition Provisional Authority;
(B) a description of any financial irregularities that may
have occurred in the activities of the Authority;
(C) a description of--
(i) any irregularities relating to the administration of
laws providing for full and open competition in contracting
(as defined in section 4(6) of the Office of Federal
Procurement Policy Act (41 U.S.C. 403(6))); and
(ii) any other irregularities related to procurement;
(D) a description of any actions taken by the Inspector
General to improve such financial controls or address such
financial irregularities;
(E) a description of the programmatic goals of the
Coalition Provisional Authority; and
(F) an assessment of the performance of the Coalition
Provisional Authority, including progress made by the
Coalition Provisional Authority in facilitating a transition
to levels of security, stability, and self-government in Iraq
sufficient to make the presence of the Coalition Provisional
Authority no longer necessary.
(2) The Inspector General of the Department of Defense
shall prepare and submit the reports otherwise required to be
submitted by the Inspector General of the Coalition
Provisional Authority under paragraph (1) until the earlier
of--
(A) the date that is 150 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act; or
(B) the date on which a determination is made by the
Inspector General of the Coalition Provisional Authority that
the Office of the Inspector General of the Coalition
Provisional Authority is capable of preparing timely,
accurate, and complete reports in compliance with the
requirements under paragraph (1).
(3) The reports under this subsection are in addition to
the semiannual reports required of the Inspector General by
section 5 of the Inspector General Act of 1978 and any other
reports required of the Inspector General by law.
(4) The Inspector General of the Coalition Provisional
Authority (or the Inspector General of the Department of
Defense, as applicable) shall publish each report under this
subsection on the Internet website of the Coalition
Provisional Authority.
(e) The Office of the Inspector General of the Coalition
Provisional Authority shall terminate on the first day that
both of the following conditions have been met:
(1) the Coalition Provisional Authority has transferred
responsibility for governing Iraq to an indigenous Iraqi
government; and
(2) a United States mission to Iraq, under the direction
and guidance of the Secretary of State, has undertaken to
perform the responsibility for administering United States
assistance efforts in Iraq.
Mr. FEINGOLD. My understanding is the chairman intends to accept this
amendment.
Mr. STEVENS. I yield to the Senator from Nevada to put in an
amendment for Senator Corzine to include in these amendments.
Amendment No. 1851
Mr. REID. I send an amendment to the desk on behalf of Senator
Corzine.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, the pending amendments are
set aside.
The clerk will report.
The legislative clerk read as follows:
The Senator from Nevada [Mr. Reid], for Mr. Corzine,
proposes an amendment numbered 1851.
Mr. REID. I ask unanimous consent that the reading of the amendment
be dispensed with.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
The amendment is as follows:
(Purpose: To require the President to submit periodic reports to
Congress on the total projected costs of United States operations in
Iraq, including military operations and reconstruction efforts, through
fiscal year 2008)
On page 38, between lines 21 and 22, insert the following
new section:
Sec. 3001. Not later than 30 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act, and every 90 days thereafter until
December 31, 2007, the President shall submit to each Member
[[Page S12590]]
of Congress a report on the projected total costs of United
States operations in Iraq, including military operations and
reconstruction efforts, through fiscal year 2008. The
President shall include in each report after the initial
report an explanation of any change in the total projected
costs since the previous report.
Amendments Nos. 1844, 1847, and 1851
Mr. STEVENS. I now call up amendments Nos. 1844, 1847, and 1851:
Senator Feingold's amendment, the Boxer amendment, and Senator
Corzine's amendment. They are all reporting amendments, requiring
reporting. I ask unanimous consent that they be considered en bloc and
agreed to en bloc.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
The amendments were agreed to en bloc.
Amendment No. 1844 is as follows:
(Purpose: To require a report on replacing U.S. troops with Iraqi
forces or other non-U.S. forces in secure areas of Iraq)
At the appropriate place, insert the following:
SEC . REPORT ON REPLACEMENT OF U.S. TROOPS.
(a) Findings.--The Senate finds that--
(1) The Coalition Provisional Authority states that 80
percent of Iraq is a permissive environment with people
returning to a normal pace of life, while 20 percent is less
permissive with entrenched Saddam loyalists, international
terrorists and general lawlessness hindering recovery
efforts.
(2) On September 9, Deputy Secretary of Defense John
Wolfowitz testified, ``. . . the predominantly Shia south [or
Iraq] has been stable and I would say far more stable than
most pre-war predications would have given you. And the mixed
Arab, Turkish, Kurdish north has also been remarkably stable,
again, contrary to fears than many of us had that we might
face large-scale ethnic conflict.''
(3) On September 14, Secretary of State Colin Powell
stated, ``We see attacks against our coalition on a daily
basis . . . but in many parts of the country things are quite
secure and stable.''
(4) The Coalition Provisional Authority states that a major
focus of its security efforts has been to increase Iraqi
participation in and responsibility for a safe and secure
Iraq.
(5) On September 14, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld
stated, ``90 percent of the people in Iraq are now living in
an area that's governed by a city council, or a village
council.''
(6) The Coalition Provisional Authority reports that 60,000
Iraqis are now assisting in security, including 46,000 Iraqi
police nationwide.
(7) Of the 160,000 coalition military personnel serving in
Iraq, 20,000 are comprised of non-U.S. forces.
(b) Report.--Beginning 30 days after the enactment of this
Act, the President or his designee shall submit a monthly
report to Congress detailing--
(1) the areas of Iraq determined to be largely secure and
stable; and
(2) the extent to which U.S. troops have been replaced by
non-U.S. coalition forces, U.N. forces, or Iraqi forces in
the areas determined to be largely secure and stable under
this subsection.
Mr. STEVENS. I move to reconsider the vote.
Mr. REID. I move to lay that motion on the table.
The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.
Amendment No. 1805, As Modified
Mr. STEVENS. I call up an amendment numbered 1805 introduced by
Senator Graham and send a modification of that amendment to the desk.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. The
amendment is so modified.
The amendment (No. 1805), as modified, is as follows:
On page 38, between lines 20 and 21, insert the following:
Sec. 2313. (a) Congress finds that--
(1) in a speech delivered to the United Nations on
September 23, 2003, President George W. Bush appealed to the
international community to take action to make the world a
safer and better place;
(2) in that speech, President Bush emphasized the
responsibility of the international community to help the
people of Iraq rebuild their country into a free and
democratic state;
(3) for a plan for Iraq's future to be appropriate, the
provisions of that plan must be consistent with the best
interests of the Iraqi people;
(4) premature self-government could make the Iraqi state
inherently weak and could serve as an invitation for
terrorists to sabotage the development of a democratic,
economically prosperous Iraq.
(b) It is the sense of Congress that--
(1) arbitrary deadlines should not be set for the
dissolution of the Coalition Provisional Authority or the
transfer of its authority to an Iraqi governing authority;
and
(2) no such dissolution or transfer of authority should
occur until the ratification of an Iraqi constitution and the
establishment of an elected government in Iraq.
Mr. STEVENS. I ask for adoption of the amendment.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is on agreeing to the amendment.
The amendment (No. 1805), as modified, was agreed to.
Mr. STEVENS. I move to reconsider the vote.
Mr. REID. I move to lay that motion on the table.
The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.
Amendment No. 1836
Mr. STEVENS. I ask that Senator Reid's amendment No. 1836 be laid
before the Senate.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The amendment is now pending.
Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I ask for the adoption of that amendment.
It is a sense-of-the-Senate amendment.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is on agreeing to the amendment
numbered 1836.
The amendment (No. 1836) was agreed to.
Mr. STEVENS. I move to reconsider the vote.
Mr. REID. I move to lay that motion on the table.
The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.
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